Mega-Blog

I am the worst blogger ever. My project has not been left ignored, simply un-blogged. Here is a quick recap of the last month.

68-72. Go to five restaurants I have never been to.

Ocean Pizza [02/12/11] I visited Ocean Pizza in New London with Mom and Mandy after a little shopping adventure. It was surprisingly large, and their menu was so varied. I enjoyed an eggplant grinder with a cup of clam chowder. Mandy had a bacon cheeseburger with fries, and Mom a Reuben. I couldn’t get over all of the huge dishes that were being delivered to the tables around me. It was a nice, local place. My eggplant was okay, but my chowder was DELISH! Mandy’s burger looked mouthwatering.

74. Try a new vegetable. [Completed 03/04/11]

Purple Potatoes! I know potatoes are more of a starch than a vegetable, but I’ve decided to let it slide. Purple potatoes are so cool. I’ve seen them on Food Network, but I was pretty skeptical. Someone brought in a trio of roasted potatoes from Mystic Market to our staff potluck. The purple potatoes were mixed in with Yukon gold and sweet varieties. This was beautiful to look at and super tasty. The purple potatoes seem saltier than the Yukon gold and contrasted nicely with the sweet potatoes. I loved them!

95-99. Try five new soup recipes. [Completed 02/19/11]

Tomato and Parsnip [02/19/11] Turns out, I don’t really like parsnip. I probably won’t make this again, although, it was great fun to use my immersion blender. My five new soups are hereby completed!

103-112. Try ten new recipes by ten different chefs.

Maui Onion Dip [02/04/11] I love onion dip. I will never make it from a package again. This was easily the best onion dip the world has ever seen, and it was so easy. Make this. I dare you.

Bavarian Cream Donuts [02/12/11] Anthony got a crazy idea to make Bavarian Cream Donuts per Emeril Lagasse’s recipe. This was not a recipe for the light-hearted cook. I did get to face my fear of cooking with yeast. Although Anthony and I were pretty doubtful about this success of this recipe, they turned out great. It was also just wonderful to cook with Anthony :-)

Shrimp with Pasta and Tomato Cream Sauce [02/14/11] Giada de Laurentiis is my girl. I made this for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, I forgot my immersion blender! So, I decided to puree my sauce the old-fashioned way and used a blender. I was on my last batch of hot and bubbly sauce, and I lifted the blender to pour my concoction over the shrimp and pasta. The bottom fell out of the blender, and my tomato cream sauce went EVERYWHERE! It’s a wonder I didn’t burn my hand off. Anthony was so good about cleaning it, despite my crying over “ruining Valentine’s Day”. I thinned out the little bit of sauce we had left with some chicken broth, wine, and cream. Even after the blender catastrophe, this meal turned out to be delicious. I will certainly make it again, although, I will be sure to remember my handy immersion blender.

Chocolate Fondue [02/15/11] I had intended to have Tyler Florence’s Chocolate Fondue with our Valentine’s Dinner, but we ate too much shrimp and pasta. We made it the next day, and it was super good. The recipe calls for hazelnut syrup, which added a magical touch. Unfortunately, fondue is really for a party; gthere was way too much leftover.

141. Use a personal day.  [Completed 02/28/11]

My cousin Steven got married on a Sunday night in February. I thought the following Monday would be a perfect occasion to use a personal day, and I was right. Having a job rocks. Getting paid on your day off rocks harder.

183. Update and organize my iTunes library. [Completed 03/09/11]

This is making me so happy. Between switching iPods and computers, my iTunes library was a total mess. Over 1,000 songs had lost their information, so I had to listen to every track and re-label it. It was definitely a pain, but so worth it!

209. Cantor at Our Lady of Lourdes. [Completed 03/05/11]

This was awesome! I’m now on the Cantor schedule and will regularly be singing masses at the church J

211. Attend a concert at Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods. [Completed 03/12/11]

Anthony and I went to see Celtic Woman this week. They were wonderful! Although, the nymph playing violin was a little irritating.

217-226. Watch ten of AFI’s Top 100 American Movies.

Casablanca [02/01/11] Now I’ve seen Casablanca. The end.

236. Knit a wearable scarf. [Completed 02/02/11]

I have a feeling that I will crochet blankets for my babies. Knitting is tedious, but it did calm my nerves when I was feeling anxious about anything. Most importantly, I have a beautiful, purple scarf.

238. Watch the “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” series.  [Completed 02/16/11]

A childhood dream, realized. :-)